


The Freedom to Love

by SugaryMystery



Series: Berylon Village [1]
Category: exophilia - Fandom, exophilia writing - Fandom, orignal work
Genre: Classism, Curses, Decay, Depression, Discrimination, Famine - Freeform, Hidden Lovers, Homophobia, Homosexual Couple, Illnesses, Infertility, M/M, Mentions of Famine - Freeform, Mentions of Poor Higene, Mentions of War, Non-Graphic Family Violence, Non-Graphic Violence, Old Beliefs System, Racisms, Rituals, Specialism, Terminal Illnesses, Traditional Groups, Violence, Witchcraft, mention of illnesses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:34:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24880891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SugaryMystery/pseuds/SugaryMystery
Summary: A Story that started just like a slice of angst pure soon developed into a much bigger story. Thank you @goats-and-pancakes for the help with the development and character building!
Relationships: male monster x male monster, male orc x male minotaur, mlm - Relationship, mlm relationship - Relationship, monster x monster - Relationship, orc x minotaur
Series: Berylon Village [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1800364
Kudos: 1





	The Freedom to Love

**Author's Note:**

> A Story that started just like a slice of angst pure soon developed into a much bigger story. Thank you @goats-and-pancakes for the help with the development and character building!

Our village has become more and more of a wasteland with every week that passes.

The earth has turned a strange pale color and the trees have turned a bizarre dark-black, if one burns the logs black smoke comes from it filling every room with nothing but darkness, making people fall ill the more smoke they inhale. The land is so dry and so sterile that no crops or vegetables can grow in it. It’s been years since the last time rain has fallen in here, we are lucky to have the water from wells or we would have died a long time ago.

The elders, who still run the village, have decided to blame the forest nearby. So many legends and dark tales have been heard from it, how it creates illusions and drags people to its deeps to feast on the bones of the unfortunate ones. As a weak attempt to keep the forest at peace, we live under an old, and I dare to say, an ancient regiment that forbids, well… everything really.

Old beliefs that were traditional of the regiment before the war, based on the fear of mayor deities in order to appease the calamities. If one does not obey these rules, they’re risking to either be kicked out inside the cursed forest or in the worst case, getting killed in the spot. No one will come to your aid because we’re equally terrified, if not of the elders, of the calamities that can happen if we don’t please the fake deities.

The majority of my old relatives had fled to the Capital to find a better life, my mother chose to leave the night everybody in the house started arguing to never appear in my life again. Since then, it has only me and my father who, as the head of the house was too proud to admit that we couldn’t fight against the forces of nature, or in this case, the will of the cursed forest. So we stayed here even though we can barely make enough to feed ourselves, much less the farm animals.

We use to have a small business selling crops and hay for the animals around the village, we had so much work in our hands that we had to hire extra hands and my father wanted to start selling the produce to the Capital. Once the land got ruined, so did our business plans and our bond as a family started to vanish slowly.

Needless to say, our relationship is almost none existent at this point, but I’m still under his thumb and I still need to fulfill each one of his expectations and the ones from the village to live in peace, or at least so survive. I’ve grown to hate him with every day that passes, and I hate even more this cursed village and myself for not being brave enough to leave. But luckily, there’s something that keeps me going.

‘’Flavio!’’ I hear my father calling for me from inside the house. I was chopping wood from the trees for my father since he´s the only one who stays inside the house, I stop but I don’t put down my ax just in case he wants to start another fight with me, is better to be safe and sure. My father is standing against the door frame, his arms crossed and his brows knitted together. His hair has become even grayer thanks to the smoke from the fireplace inside the house.

‘’What do you need?’’ I ask him, the lack of respect I have for him is very noticeable in the tone of my voice, but he only grunts and rolls his eyes. He’s too weak to argue.

‘’I need you to put your useless self together and go near the forest. I heard rumors of someone wandering around. Whoever, or whatever it is that is looking for, is either bad or wicked’’

‘’And you want me to go there and say hello?’’ I smirk.

He sighs in annoyance but doesn’t says anything else besides mumbling something under his breath, probably because he can’t hide the pain in his body anymore even though he’s too prideful to seek help. Is this attitude of him that terrifies me, he prefers to die with pride no one is going to acknowledge than to live for a little longer or a little better.

‘’Come back alive and with information. Now go, I can’t stand seeing you any longer’’ he mumbles something else that I couldn’t hear before closing the door behind him, slamming it but not breaking it, thankfully.

He must be scared knowing that someone is wondering the entrance of the woods since nothing good comes out of it, maybe it is an unknown creature or a dark fairy? Whatever it is I have to agree with him that it cannot be of any good.

I grab a rusty iron necklace I found in the field years ago as well as our last and only horse. I ride to the closest entrance, there’s a small fence build with the black logs of the trees with magical runes carved on them. The elders believe that a few draws, living constantly with fear, pushing away everyone who acts differently in the slightest way, and living under the ruling of a dead king will save them for famine and sickness. It makes me want to laugh bitterly at how pointless, if not ridiculous, our lifestyle has become.

I get off from my horse once I arrive and I took a moment to stare at the darkness before me. I remember seeing it in the same way back when I was a child; back then it was hard to believe that a couple of trees and a slow breeze could bring destruction and bad luck. I don’t know if I was wrong or right, part of me still believes that the fate of the village is connected to something else that’s much closer than the forest, almost sleeping beside our bodies whenever we can find peaceful sleep.

We never actually cared for this forest before. No, back then the only thing that matter was that we were happy and prosperous. True, we never had much even if our business was successful, but we were never hungry, or cold, and everyone was smiling and thankful for what we could do. Was it truly like that, or it was only an illusion created by the innocence of my childhood?

‘’Something was telling me that I would see you today’’ a dark voice speak from behind me as heavy footsteps get close to me. I turn to see Norbe smirking at me, he has his old ax resting on his shoulder and he’s not wearing a shirt today letting me see the old scars in his chest.

‘’Sounds like you wanted to see me too’’ I smirk back at him, Since it’s been too cold lately I wouldn’t dare to take my cloak off. Although since he’s always training he doesn’t get cold so easily, something I highly envy. ‘’Did your group told you about the rumors as well?’’

He gets closer and stands beside me, his hair is dirty just like my pelt, which is no surprise considering the lack of water in our village. I can’t remember the last time I had a warm and comfortable bath, at this pace I’ll end up having fleas and flies all over me.

‘’I wanted me to check out if the rumors were true’’ he answers. ‘’Who the hell would be mad enough to enter this place?!’’ he points towards the trees. ‘’I mean, look at it’’

I turn to see the deeps of the forest again, and every time it sends shivers down my spine. Unlike the forest my younger self used to see, this one makes me want to run away with just its presence. The trees are tall and the dark leaves cover the sky, the deeps are dense and cold, and the air coming from its heavy and almost freezing. There have been some nights when I’ve heard cries and laments, others I’ve been able to see something running between the shadows, and in the most frightening ones I’ve seen a pair of bright eyes looking directly at me, followed by a sound that could only be described as a mix between a growl and maniac laugh.

‘’Whatever was roaming around it must be dead by now. That, or it was another illusion made by the forest’’ Norbe tells to me before patting my shoulder. ‘’Want to look around together? It is safer that way’’

I smile and nod, happy to have company.

Norbe wasn’t born here like me, he first came a decade ago with a group of mercenaries looking for work. He was the youngest of the group couldn’t go to the missions until years later, so he came many times to work in the fields we had back then, and eventually, we developed a companionship based on trust and care. We use to talk about what kind of lives we could have if we managed to get away or where would we travel if we had the chance. Each night we kept talking about where we should go, what would we do, and how happy we could be far-far away. Back then we were nothing but a couple of children dreaming about an impossible future, but I’m happy that our relationship never changed despite the world starting to shatter around us.

We continued walking around the fence, silence falling between us as if the forest could swallow that too. We didn’t say much but there was no need to really. After thirty minutes of walking, we founded a caravan right next to the trees, it was old yet not rusted with the paint still looking new and was decorated with all sorts of trinkets and bells. I didn’t see anyone around it so we knocked on the locked door to see if anyone was inside. There was no answer, just de sound of the bells in the wind.

‘’I told you! If there was someone here before it must already death. We should at least check the caravan, maybe we could get something good from it’’ Norbe says as he lifts his ax to chop the door open, but I stop him before he can do it.

‘’It is better if we leave the caravan alone for now’’ I point to the symbols carved on top of the door and windows. ‘’It has protection runes all over it and I don’t think we’ll be able to find anything useful in it. We better go back’’

I never believed symbols and drawings could save us, however, being exposed to the elder’s teachings and threats made me develop a fear of anything magic based. I always thought they couldn’t be trusted.

I turn and try to walk away but Norbe grabs my wrist making me turn at him. He’s looking at me with his gorgeous hazelnut eyes.

Those eyes are one of the things I love so much about him, they always bring me back to those first memories together. He pulls me closer to his naked chest and I melt under the touch of his rough hands as I tangle my finger in his black hair. It’s dirty indeed, so much that it cannot be braid and the beads are almost glue together to it. Both of us really need a decent bath but right now the dust and mud don’t bother me at all.

He lifts my chin so I can meet his hungry kiss, his tongue waste no time on tasting each corner of my mouth despite him hating the taste of hay. Norbe has always been a great kisser ever since we were young, he was the type of orc who would always play nice with the girls in the village, but I knew when we shared our first kiss that he would be mine and mine only. He rubs my back and his hands start to rub my belly and chest under my shirt. I moan at the sensation and drag my nails down his chest and back, marking him. I hope the others don’t question him much about it, he would have to come up with a story for the claw marks I’m leaving.

We’ve been lovers for over two years now. Our companionship turned into a wonderful friendship, and this led to the relationship we have now. I’m pretty sure I was the first one to fell in love with him back when we were only teenagers. One day I just couldn’t keep my eyes away from him while he was working on the fields. His gorgeous, hard, and muscled body was too attractive to just look away and the fact that he never wore a shirt and was cover in sweat made the temptation even stronger. I loved that, besides being a strong orc, he was nothing but gentle and kind to me, a side of him that he didn’t show to anybody else but me and it made me feel special.

I’ve always been too shy to do anything first, and thankfully Norbe was the one to take the first step. He took me to a secluded hill surrounded by trees and bushes, we laid in the ground and watched the stars shine while we continue talking and laughing as usual. Then he rolled over to his side and pulled me into a shy kiss. I was so starved for his touch that I didn’t waste any time and started kissing him back, grabbing him by his clothes and pushing him onto the ground causing us to roll down the hill into a pool of mud. I still remember that day as one of the best.

Although everything was nothing but kisses and smiles, we both knew we had to keep quiet and always be cautious about whoever was watching. My family being old and heavily traditional, would be the first ones to point at us and yell that we should feel ashamed of our actions. The worst thing was that one of the rules in the village was that any relationship that didn’t have the purpose of procreation or breeding, needed to be forbidden. This didn’t only exclude us; couples that couldn’t have children would be looked down like an omen of bad luck, and anyone that could be suspicious of sorcery or witchcraft needed to be especially kicked out of the land to prevent the rage of the deities. Interracial couples were specially forbidden, but although we knew we were in a lot of trouble we couldn’t hide our feeling no matter how hard we tried.

It just didn’t make sense for us that the love we had could bring such misfortune. To this day, I refuse to believe it has anything to do with the curse surrounding us.

Sadly, as much as I’m enjoying our kiss, I’m called back to reality when I hear the leaves of the trees shake with the wind, making an unusual sound that sounded more like a lament. I had to put my hands on his shoulders and push him away so I could catch my breath and clear my mind.

‘’Why did you stop me, Flavio?’’ he asks me. His eyes have grown soft and tender, begging me without words to continue. I can’t deny that my desire is just as big as his and it’s been far too long since the last time we were so close to each other. I need him too… I so desperately want him, but-

‘’This is not the right place, my love’’ I grab his hand and kiss his knuckles. ‘’Whoever was here may come back, we don’t know if that person was even killed by something, and if that were the case, that something could come out looking for more. It’s not safe here’’

Finally, Norbe whines but keeps his hands to himself, walking away in circles while I grab a small handkerchief that was hanging on one of the windows just to show it to my father as proof of what I had found. If he wants to open the caravan and steal whatever may be inside it will be a risk he will have to take alone. For now, my job here is done.

Maybe I could find an excuse to tell my father about wanting to do night watch so we can spend the night together? My body feels hot whenever I’m around him and I’m sure he feels the same, this is huge torture for us.

Both of us froze when we heard the bushes inside the forest move, something was exiting from between the trees. Norbe placed himself before me and pulled out his ax, ready to chop anything that dared to attack us. Surprise hit us in the face when a dark hooded figure with a black cape appeared in front of us, the only other feature I could see from them was their hands which were thin and slender but cover in a black liquid similar to ink.

As they exit the forest they couldn’t help but notice us standing there. The figure tried to walk towards us but Norbe growled at them, holding his ax in front of them. I’m shivering, not in cold but fear. I’m not sure what it is that’s standing in front of us. If Norbe wasn’t here I would probably be dead by now.

‘’Easy there, boys. I don’t have business with you’’ the figure speaks and lifts their hands in front of them in surrender, their voice is surprisingly feminine and soft in contrast to their mysterious and intimidating appearance. ‘’I’m only here because I have business with the forest, that’s all’’

‘’Who are you?!’’ Norbe grows, ax still on his hands. ‘’Nobody can walk out so freely from that damn forest!’’

The figure laughs and wipes their hands clean in their cape. ‘’Of course, you can’t get out of if you get lost, but if you know your way inside then it’s not so difficult at all’’ The figure opens the door to the caravan only by lifting their hand and reciting words I couldn’t understand, the lock opens and the chains move away to softly be left aside. ‘’I’m only here to pick up something and then leave from this Gods forsaken village. I’ve only been here for a couple of hours and I already hate it’’ the figure whines.

‘’We don’t have much since the earth got sick, there’s not much even for ourselves’’ I answer. If they’re looking for a nice place to stay than this was the worst choice, unless they enjoy seeing the misery of others, there’s not much entertainment here.

‘’I can see that! It’s such a shame really’’ the figure takes a sit on the stairs of the caravan. ‘’But I’m glad to see that hasn’t killed the love in the air’’

We froze after hearing their words. We’ve both been so cautious in every single one of our meetings, so much that we even have to wait months before we even share a single kiss. We know that the entire village will blame us for our relationship, or worse, kill us if they find out. And now, everything was put to risk thanks to this stranger we don’t even know what kind of creature they are at all.

‘’You saw us?’’ I ask and the figure nods, from the tone in their voice I can be sure they’re smirking.

‘’The two of you weren’t actually dissimulating, and to me at least is pretty obvious by the way you look at each other. You are more than just friends that casually meet in front of my home, which is why I didn’t come out of the bushes sooner. I didn’t want to ruin your moment!’’ they laughed.

Norbe continues to growl at them. Now he’s the one shaking, he probably doesn’t know what to do now. Should we kill them? Should we try to buy their silence? Should we give up everything, or just act in denial? I don’t know either, the only thing that I can do now is put a hand on his shoulder in a weak attempt to comfort him.

‘’You two are scared, am I right?’’ their tone has suddenly become softer. ‘’Fear not young ones, as I said, I only have business with the forest’’ the figure says but doesn’t do much to reassure us. We don’t know anything about them, not even their motives.

‘’How can we believe you? How can we be sure that you won’t tell everyone in the village to get us killed?!’’ Norbe yells, his entire body is shaking. I hide my face against his back, a silent way to say ‘’I’m here with you’’.

The figure puts a hand on their chest, making a dramatic pose. ‘’Is that kind of belief still enforcing these days? How barbaric!’’ the yell in disgust. ‘’It’s a good thing that I decide to travel through the forest instead of the main road, I bet if they saw me they would have burned me at the stake before trying to steal my stuff’’

That… would have happened. The elders would have agreed that it was for the greater good and proceed to make them disappear as quickly as possible, taken the more valuable things with the excuse of destroying or exorcise them from evil, just to sell them for money they won’t share with the hungry. The fewer witnesses, the better. Norbe seems still suspicious of them so he doesn’t lower his ax.

‘’You haven’t answered our question’’ I clarify. ‘’How can we know we can trust you?’’

They lean back, crossing their arms. ‘’I come from the Capital. This village is one of the few to still have this kind of ideology, every other corner of the kingdom is enjoying the ending of the war and the death of the king. In here the people seem to be pleased to still be held by the bloody hands of a man that has been long for a while now, but believe me, the rest of the kingdom is happily enjoying their right _to love_ and _be loved_ by anyone’’

Norbe relaxes a little and I let out a sigh of relief. We don’t know much about the outside world since none of us have ever left the village since forever, but we have heard stories about the Capital, how in the rest of the kingdom the cruel past regiment is nonexistent, everyone being free to be who they are and love who they want. Even celebrating it with long festivals and highly attended events.

I can see his knees are starting to shake too as he lowers his ax. In a bold move I hug him without caring if the figure is watching us, he reciprocates the gesture by kissing my cheek and licking the tears I only now notice flowing down my cheeks.

‘’Hey, I know I said this isn’t weird to me but don’t forget I’m still here. I’m starting to feel like a third wheel’’ the figure complains.

I can’t help but chuckle to calm my nerves. The figure then goes inside their caravan and comes out grabbing two bags and throws them to us. ‘’Here, you too look too skinny for an orc and a minotaur’’

We open the bags and see they have a few pieces of dry meat, bread, cheese, and some dried fruit too. We exchange looks, Norbe takes a bite of everything on my bag to make sure nothing is poisoned, after that he nods in approval and we sat beside the figure who is now smoking from a long golden pipe they pulled from the long sleeves of their robe. 

‘’Thanks’’ I say to the figure and they breathe out the smoke that takes the form of a butterfly in the air. Norbe takes the time to change the dried meat in my bag with the dried fruit in his, he knows that minotaurs can’t digest well meat, and actions like this always remind me how sweet and protective he can be.

‘’You don’t have to thank me for anything, young one. I didn’t do anything extraordinary, and if this place would have been in the right relationship, you wouldn’t found my attitude odd at all. Besides, my family and I have rules to fulfill our _missions_ , as you may call it’’

‘’Missions? How so?’’ I tilt my head curiously and the figure chuckles, pleased with my curious attitude.

‘’Try not to jump in surprise, but you see, I am a witch’’ They said and I visibly jumped, earning a laugh from them. Witches have always been a sort of boogiemen they use to throw blame to. Evil and mysterious creatures who betrayed the Deities and turned against good people. A child’s nightmare that you learn to laugh at as an adult, yet, I never knew if that was completely true or not.

‘’Sure I know I don’t look like a conventional witch but I have the magic with me. And I, along with my coven, have rules that we follow wherever we go’’ they pull out something from their sleeve and put them on the pipe, a low flame appears from their finger to lit the pipe. After taking the smoke they breathe out another couple of butterflies. ‘’One; never look away if someone is _meant_ for your intervention. Two; always act respectful to others, it doesn’t matter if you don’t share their beliefs, race, train of thought, or truth. And the last one; never betray the ones close to your heart’’

‘’That sound cheesy’’ Norbe says and I punch him in the arm with my elbow. ‘’Sorry, I couldn’t help myself’’

‘’It’s okay, I imagine that living under these circumstances has slowly killed your sense of hope, am I right?’’ We both nodded a little ashamed. ‘’Most people believe that covens do nothing but dark rituals, and we witches are nothing but specters of darkness. But we care for others, even for those who want to burns us alive’’

‘’That sounds like a nice family, although, I don’t remember having specific rules even in my group’’ Norbe speaks. I do know that between mercenaries they have _codes,_ like; always run as fast as you can, or; if someone gets caught they must be left behind. The usual.

‘’You wouldn’t be wrong with that, but we prefer the term family. We care for each other and always prioritize our safety and happiness before our work and beliefs. As long as you have conviction in what you believe; people, deities, goals, and dreams, you’ll have an idea of what freedom is. It’s nice, although I wish we could see each other more often’’ the figure lets out a deep sigh, the tone of their voice suggest they’re a little sad by they just said.

Before I can notice the two of us have finished the contents of the bags, we were indeed hungry and I’m tired of eating hay with the horse, not to mention that the dried fruit was particularly tasty. The figure finishes smoking almost at the same time, emptying their pipe and putting it back inside their sleeve. ‘’I think it is better if the two of you come back to your homes, although I would appreciate if you keep my staying here a secret for… several reasons’’

We look at them with a worried expression. The figure puts a hand where their heart should be and lifts the other. ‘’You don’t need to worry, I promise for my soul that I will not to say anything at all’’

‘’Good’’ Norbe says and quickly walks away, it’d be weird if anyone sees us walking together so I’ll have to wait a little longer before going back too.

‘’Are you tired, little one?’’ the figure asks me, it’s sort of comical that they call me little when I stand to almost eight feet tall. Maybe because they are older? They tilt their ‘’ _head’’_ to me, although it is hard to tell if they have a face since I can only see darkness coming from the inside the hood of their cloak.

I doubt for a second before responding. ‘’I am’’ I sigh. ‘’I want to flee with him but where are we supposed to go? How and with what means?’’ I turn to see them. ‘’Do you think it is worth keep living like this, unable to be with the one you so deeply love, scared of the people you have known from your birth, fearing they may lead you to your death without thinking twice?’’

The figure doesn’t seem taken by surprised by my question. They sigh and look up, their hood is kept in its place like a part of their body, always hiding their face. ‘’I cannot give you a straight answer because I have not experimented with such feelings before. But… what I can tell you is that fear is not only an emotion but a way to hold people and overpower them, and you can’t expect to move mountains if you’re scared of your own shadow’’

Makes sense to me, almost ironically and painfully. Still, I’m unsure of what to do with my situation.

‘’However…’’ the figure continues. ‘’Fear is still an emotion, and emotions can only have power over you as long as you let them. True, it’s not an easy task, but is worth it’’

I turn and smile at them, somehow I think they tried to make me feel better in their way. I made a quick reverence to them and leave the place in my horse, not looking back but knowing that they must be watching me.

* * *

When I get back to the house I tell a quick lie about how I didn’t find anything at all, hiding the handkerchief in my pocket, and telling him that I had an encounter with a dangerous creature.

Again, my father was too tired to even look at me so he only limited himself to throw me a rag in the face and telling me to go to sleep. I don’t want to get ill because of the smoke, so despite the incredibly low temperatures, I usually stay with the horse inside the bad. I should be ashamed, and deep inside I am, but right now the only thing that matters is surviving more than have dignity.

Resting my head against the old stallion and covering myself with a dirty blanket, I try to fall into a pleasant sleep. I smile at the memory of our brief, yet wonderful kiss and how warm his hands felt on my coat. I cannot help but smile whenever I think of him and the future we might have if we were in better circumstances. Maybe run away and build a little cottage? I know everything I need to know about working the land and Norbe is a decent hunter as well. We could be happy, we could be free.

After fantasizing for a couple more minutes I finally fall asleep, dreaming of him cuddling beside me. Keeping me safe for the storm I knew was coming closer.


End file.
